On 1 May 1990, the 70th anniversary of the state farm was celebrated in Luunja. As horse breeding and horseback riding are traditional in the Luunja rural municipality and horses are still bred in the manor, a monument was erected there to celebrate man’s best friend in agriculture – the horse. The author of the bronze horse monument is Endel Taniloo.On the night of 19 June 2017, the sculpture was painted purple. It is not known who did it. According to folk tradition, the horse became so angry it turned purple because in the course of the administrative reform, Luunja rural municipality almost had to join the city of Tartu. Fortunately, the rural municipality was able to maintain its independence.
The Cornflower (or Broken Cornflower) memorial to the victims of Stalinism was established in 1990 and its author is P. Saar.On top of the granite boulders is a broken cornflower (Estonian national flower). Black stripes run through the grey stone parquet of the square. They depict the railway tracks that symbolise deportation to Siberia. The waterworks of the monument make it possible for water to drip off the petals of the cornflower, like tears.The monument, which was initially erected on the corner of Riia and Pepleri streets in Tartu by the association of freedom fighters Memento, was reopened in its new spot at Pepleri 27. The monument is located next to the grey building. During the Soviet era, a KGB remand prison was located there, where the deportation of many Estonians to Siberia began.
The monument to Peeter Siegfried Nikolaus Põld (1878–1930), the first Minister of Education and founder of the national university of Estonia, the first professor of pedagogy, was unveiled in front of the Ministry of Education and Research on 1 December 2008.The authors of the monument are sculptor Ekke Väli and architect Ain Rööpson.Under the name of Peeter Põld Day, student scientific conferences have been organised at the University of Tartu since 2008, and on the same day, the university issues a scholarship named after him.
The year 1886 when the plan to build the Pihkva-Riga railway with a branch from Valga to Tartu became a crucial year in the development of the little town.The steam engine monument erected near the Valga railway station in 1998 celebrates the 110th anniversary of the Pihkva-Valga-Riga rail connection. Engine SU 251-98 was built in the Sormovo Shipyard in 1949. Interesting facts: * the engine weighs 87 tons and its output is 12 tons of steam per hour; * Riga-Pihkva railway was officially opened on 22 July 1889 in Pihkva.
The monument to the legendary Estonian statesman and journalist Jaan Tõnisson was established in 1999. Its authors are Mati Karmin and Tiit Trummal. Jaan Tõnisson was a legendary statesman and journalist who was prime minister from 1919 to 1920, the head of state from 1927 to 1928 and in 1933, the owner of the Postimees newspaper from 1896 to 1930 and the editor-in-chief of the Postimees from 1896 to 1935. Tõnisson was made an honorary citizen of Tartu in 1939.
Kristjan Jaak Peterson (14 March 1801 – 4 August 1822) was an Estonian writer who is considered to be the founder of Estonian national literature.He studied in the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy of the University of Tartu from 1819 to 1820. He called himself a singer of the country people, appreciated the national features of literature, and thought that the creation of original Estonian literature was possible.There is a bronze monument to him on Toomemägi, which was completed in 1983 by J. Soans and A. Murdmaa, and a high school named after him in Tartu.On the writer's birthday, 14 March, we celebrate Mother Tongue Day.Fun fact: Peterson walked from Tartu to Riga more than 200 years ago due to lack of money.
Hugo Treffner (1845–1912) was an Estonian cultural figure and the founder of Hugo Treffner Gymnasium. The school still operates in Tartu (it was called the Tartu 1st Upper Secondary School during the Soviet era), on the wall of which is also the bas-relief of the first school principal Treffner on Rüütli tänav. It is considered one of the elite schools in Estonia.The monument erected in honour of Hugo Treffner is located on the bank of the Emajõgi River in the western part of Ülejõgi Park, on the site of the former Hugo Treffner private school. The authors of the monument are sculptor Mati Karmin and architect Tiit Trummal. The monument was opened on 25 May 1997.Hugo Treffner's grave is in Tartu, in the Uus-Jaani cemetery.
Kalevipoeg is the Estonian national epic about the adventures of the hero called Kalevipoeg.In 1950, the memorial Kalevipoeg, which was dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in the War of Independence, was taken down by the occupying power. The monument was built by Amandus Adamson. In 1952, the monument to Kreutzwald, the Father of Song, was erected at the same location. Discussions over restoring the memorial Kalevipoeg were held since 1988, but in 2002, when the exhibition ‘Kalevipoeg in Sculpture’ took place, the restoration proptly started. Sculptor Ekke Väli modelled the momorial on the basis of photos, and he was consulted by Endel Taniloo, a senior sculptor, during the restoration of Kalevipoeg.